Product selection: He has a very wide variety in the store. If he doesn't have it, he can get it.

Stock levels: His stock levels are impeccable.

Events and community support: He supports any game a group wants to play. You bring a group in, he'll let you use the space, and get product in. He runs tournaments for all the biggest CCGs and Games Workshop products.

Play space: This site has one of the biggest playing spaces I have ever seen in a game store, 12 4x8 tables for wargaming, table space to seat up to 150 ccg players.

Gamer outreach: Joe the owner and his family may not know every game they sell, but they are more than willing to let an interested party come in and demo or run events.

Other: This store is by MILES the best store in New Hampshire, if not in New England. We have players driving from up to two hours away, and sometimes 4 hours, to play in tournaments for Legend of the Five Rings. I have been to stores in Florida, Mass, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maryland and Penn. None even hold a candle to The Game Castle!

Though I have been to game stores in many cities, I have never found a store that had the same...character as Tyche's. In addition to having a wide selection of Role Playing, CCG, Board Gaming, Miniatures, Anime, Collectibles, Dice and other products, Tyche's has an atmosphere that literally breeds gamers. When I send people there, and I live in Florida and still do all my shopping via Tyche's, I tell them if they don't have it, they can get it. Though, to be honest, I don't recall it ever being an issue since they have an incredible stock. There is always available play space whether you are into RPGs, Minatures, Card games or more traditional distractions. Tyche's has always supported the local gaming scene, especially the UGA Gamers Association. As a former member and president, I cannot thank Tyche's enough for all of their support. Tournaments for everything from D&D to HeroClix to L5R are played right in the store. In addition, I learned to play many games while I spent hours hanging out at there. The owner is always willing to teach, to consult, or just to help. I always likened Tyche's to the Salons of Paris in that you could always find people to help you plan an adventure, help fix your website or tutor you in advanced mathematics. I've seen every kind of store you can imagine, but I have never seen anything that comes even close to the customer service, quality of service or community atmosphere I have personally experienced at Tyche's. Like I said, I haven't lived in Athens for years, but I still refuse to shop anywhere else. Usually I have Tyche's mail stuff to me. But, whenever I'm back in the city, I never miss the chance to stop by and learn about what's new in the industry. To put it plainly, a better game store does not exist.

Myriad Games is the best game store in America. As an avid gamer, I support Myriad Games whenever I can, as they support the games that I love. As a Magic player, I am happy that Myriad holds a variety of events, but that doesn't really separate them from the rest of the pack. What makes them the best is the way they support the new players, and encourage community. They give back 100% of the entry fees back to the players as prizes, and 10% of it goes towards growing our game. They give out Myriad Games Cookies, do door prizes, and make sure that everyone goes home feeling like a winner. I drive over an hour to play at Myriad Games, and there's a huge game store literally 10 minutes from my house. Myriad provides a professional, comfortable, clean place for dozens of people to have fun.

Their inventory is amazing. Unlike many stores, it's never a challenge to find things to spend store credit on. I could win one of their big tournaments for like $500 in credit, and have to narrow the choices down! There are literally dozens of games that I've got my eyes on! They have all the latest games, so I know if the new expansion for a game I love just came out, they're going to have it. The staff is extremely knowledgeable, and they have put me onto many games that I can't imagine gamenight without! They have it all, from the biggest hardest to find euro games, to the smallest independent games. The fact that the staff actually plays and loves games comes through when you talk to them about new titles.

Myriad Games is a perfect ambassador for gaming. With their unbelievable inventory, friendly knowledgeable staff, and professional spacious store, anyone interested in getting into games need look no farther than Myriad Games!

Dr. No's has been my favorite game store since I was in my teens. These folks introduced me to my first RPGs and expanded my horizons beyond Monopoly and Go Fish in the board and card game departments. They have tons of comics, a plethora of action figures and statues, and if there is a game they don't have in stock, they can almost always get it for you.

They support all the major events (Free RPG Day, D&D Game Day, etc.) and have league play and tournaments for various games (HeroClix, Pokemon, Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh, etc.) They have several tables for in-store gaming.

The staff does a great job of finding the perfect game for their customers. I have never been led astray when asking for advice and have often been directed (with absolutely none of the condescension that I have endured from other stores) toward games that have become some of my favorites.

Over the years, the individuals at this establishment have become some of my favorite people in the industry and I can think of no other game store that I would rather endorse wholeheartedly.

_________________Brian Peace

"If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You have another chance."

"I'm not screwed. I'm beyond screwed. Screwed is sitting across the room, waving at me, and saying, 'Hi! Glad I'm not you!'"

Enchanted Grounds is my favorite gaming store because they have a everything I want for my games, from the major products, to dice and a large selection of board games and comics, and don't forget the Goodman Games spinner rack!

Their stock levels are always satisfying, but on the off chance they do not have something, they are happy to order it for me.

Knightfall Games is the first FLGS I'd been to in awhile, and to be honest it was purely an impulse visit. I'd stopped going to hobby stores due to a combination of poor service and/or distance, but I was pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere in this tiny store tucked out of the way underneath a bunch of asian stores: I went in there with a feeling of trepidation and happily left with about $40 worth of stuff for only $25. On the first trip there.

Knightfall Games caters about half-and-half to wargames and role-playing games, and D&D takes the lion's share in shelf space. They get all the products on the release date, and have a hefty selection of older product (and if they dont have it, Chris is all too happy to order it for you, perhaps with a discount). I was very happy to see glass cases with a massive assortment of surprisingly cheap D&D Minis, which made it very easy to round out my skeletons and orcs for a couple bucks.

Its not a big store, but they make do with what they have. There are gaming tables that are always covered in terrain, and a few off to the side if you want to sit down and roll some dice. They have a big cardboard box of custom made dungeon terrain that is comparable to what you would expect to get out of Dwarven Forge, and for the gamer on a budget it adds a lot to the play experience. To top it off, Chris has even offered to keep the store open for another hour or two just so we could game late into the night.

The store provides a very pleasant experience. Chris is incredibly friendly and outgoing. He engages customers as if they were his friends. He participates actively in wargaming, RPGs, and card games. Basically, if you bring something there and he isnt manning the register you can get him to jump in very easily. Its been awhile since I've been to a store of this quality, and rarer that I wanted to go back instead of just ordering from Amazon or Buy.com.

Myriad Games is the best game store in America. Their customer support is excellent. Whether is it finding replacement pieces to complete your game, or ordering and gift wrapping a hard to find game for a gift, they're happy to do it all.

Their magic tournaments are fantastic and I love the mana cookies! It is just another way that Myriad stands out in both their love for games and their commitment to their players.

Myriad is also the cleanest, most orderly, well-stocked game store I've ever been to. It is a perfect family environment.

Product selection: If it's part of our greater gaming hobby then Quarterstaff covers it in their selection.

Stock levels: The store is packed, in a very well ordered manner, a huge number of products. Anything that isn't on the shelf they'll happily order for you.

Events and Community Support: Every day of the week has organized play and special events are always being put on the calendar. They also take on the huge task of hosting one of the regions cons (and they do a very good job at that).

Play Space: One of the best I've seen in decades of gaming. When the opportunity arose Quarterstaff took over a neighboring retail space and set it up exclusively as community/play space. Open all day and deep into the night, it not only provides a large area of space for gaming and special events, but also gives support for figure painting and hanging out. Since the space is separate from the game store they are able to keep the area open much longer than the store itself, which allows people the time to enjoy the games when it is convenient for them to play. They also have several snack and beverage machines right in the space for snacking, and the all important bathroom!

Gamer outreach: As I'm browsing the store to see what new items have come in it's quite often that I hear non-gamers come in asking for a particular product or needing help in selecting a product. Every time this happens the staff has always provided the best service one can imagine. They are courteous, knowledgeable and friendly and people leave happy with what they selected. The manager of Quarterstaff knows how to run a proper business and it shows in all of the training he conducts with his staff, both on the business end and also in terms of product knowledge.

I've traveled quite a bit and I always make an attempt to stop by game stores along my routes. It's interesting to see what a store offers and what kind of atmosphere it has. I've been in some wonderful game stores and I've also been in some awful ones, where there is poor product selection, or worse, the staff are rude and/or seemingly disinterested in you as a customer. What I find odd though is that my hometown gamestore just happens to be one of the top tier stores that I've encountered in all of my travels. The selection and service are top notch and the play space is amazing. Quarterstaff has set such high standards for how a gamestore ought to be run that when I stumble across a "troll's lair" gamestore den in some other part of the country, only to find a surly employee ignoring me behind the counter it totally throws me off.

Lastly, I just have to say that Quarterstaff LOOKS amazing. I'm not sure how old Quarterstaff is, I've known about it for 15 years, but before it was a game store it was evidently a bar which had a great looking interior with gorgeous wood furnishings, multi-tiered floor space and a lot of wood molding backed with rick brick walls. However it came to be a gamestore was one of pure serendipity, as the whole interior evokes a "ye old tavern" that any gamer worth their dice has visited in their imagination. I think back to my experience as a child going to game stores and how evocative it was for me, and those spaces defined the old school "troll's lair" game store den. I can't imagine what it must be like to come into Quarterstaff for the first time when you are eight years old, seeing all of this amazing product, but also having it all backed up with such an amazing physical atmosphere.

There is no better game store than the legendary Compleat Strategist in New York City, they have other stores now, in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Virginia but it's the original flagship store I'm nominating, a place who has been a gamer staple for more than 25 years. Check the pages of early issues of Dragon and you will see adds for this seminal icon of gamerdom. Personally, I've been shopping there since 1984. The store's reputation is so wide spread that it a major attraction for any gamer visiting New York.

The Compleat Stategist has an enormous selection of everything a gamer could want including all games from major publishers including role playing games, war games and board games, miniatures, accessories, terrain building tools and supplies, you name it. They have even started carrying a number of games from independent publishers. All of the new games are there and in stock but any store can carry the new games, what makes a trip to the Strategist interesting is their vast selection of old games. The Strategist never has a clearance sale and they never throw anything away so any game that has come out in the last 25 years may just still be on their shelves. So if you're looking for something obscure, it might just still be sitting on a shelf in the Strategist waiting decades for you to come and pick it up.

Their friendly staff, some of whom have been working there since the store opened, is always on hand to help out with questions and the store is very welcoming to the curious who might just be walking by. If you want to hear some history just ask the owner what it was like in the old days, and what a sensation D&D was in the wargame community when it first came on the scene. He'll tell you. They have in store events and a large gaming area in the basement and support the community with Free RPG Day and other promotionals.

The Compleat Strategist is the place to go for games and have been doing it longer than many gamers today have even been alive.

I know that a couple of others have nominated Games Plus and I hate to totally duplicate what they have to say, but this place deserves some comments.

The selection at this place is amazing. They carry a huge range of current and OOP role playing games (including an extensive Goodman Games product line), board games, miniatures systems (lots of Games Workshop), and so on. They actually have a decent selection of "Indie" RPGs so that I can look at them in person rather than taking a risk online.

When I go to Games Plus, I can spend an hour easy just going up and down the aisles looking at gaming stuff. (My sister likes to take a book and just sit and read while I brouse. They don't mind her being there, and are very friendly to her even though she isn't buying anything.)

I've had Games Plus special order stuff for me and they are reliable, knowledgible, and helpful. I've exchanged e-mails with them and they are very helpful online. Their web page lists product lines they carry, upcoming events, and in general is interesting to brouse througth. They have a "frequent shopper discount" plan where you can earn $10 off for buying product. Very customer-friendly.

They have a large gaming room with multiple tables. I haven't played there, but every time I stop by I see at least one game in session.

This place is about 40 minutes from my home so I don't go there often, but it's by far my favorite game shoppe and the best I've seen. (It's as good as the old Judges Guild shop that was in Decatur and beats the old Dungeon Hobby Shop in Lake Geneva. )

"The worthy GM never purposely kills players' PCs, He presents opportunities for the rash and unthinking players to do that all on their own." -- Gary Gygax"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!" -- Dave Arneson

Product selection: Our FLGS carries anything a gamer needs. They started off as a small shop just selling Collectable Cards and Roleplaying Products with a minor amount of boardgames and have sinced moved into a larger shop and now sell Boardgames, Roleplaying Games, Comics, Dice, Card Games, Miniatures, Paints, Modeling Supplies, Action Figures, and more. They also sell fuzzy D20's for your car!

Stock levels: They almost always have what I want in stock, and when they don't they always get in what I am looking for in under 7 days. The only time this wasn't the case is when Agricola had sold out everywhere and they had it on back order.

Events and community support: Every night is public gaming night. Week days have a variety of RPG campaigns being run. Currently I know of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Call of C'thulhu, Shattered Frontier, D&D 4th Edition and GURPS. Friday's are Friday Night Magic organized play. Saturdays are RPGA Living Forgotten Realms days with up to 4 tables playing throughout the day. These regular events are interspersed with larger events like Free Comic Book Day, Free RPGA Day, Worldwide D&D days, etc.

Play space: There are 4 tables always set up in the store as well as a smaller Warmachine table. These are used for a wide variety of events from open gaming to miniature gaming tournaments. Scenery and often even Miniatures are provided by the store for all events.

Gamer outreach: The stores motto is : Games to Play with Friends and Family. They have been integral in re-establishing the gaming community in the Windsor area. Every time I'm in the store I see a child come in for the first time and go all Wide Eyed and I think "there's another one" and smile. I often bring my 2 year old daughter there and the store even has things that interest her (some stacking game with wooden animals and large foam dice mainly). They put on a wide variety of events for beginners including demo days for most new games when they are released.

Other: The owners of the store are the best. I have never felt so at home as when there. It's become more of a gaming family then a gaming community at the store. They even gave out Xmas gifts to the regulars. If it wasn't for this store opening up a few years back I probably would be out of gaming. Out of all of the players I still game with over half of them I would have never met if the store wasn't here.

Lastly: I don't think it's fair this has to be the Best Games store in America. so I'm submitting this great Canadian shop!

Pegasus is by far the best store for games in Madison. They carry a lot of materials for the very popular multi-player games, as expected, and more than I have seen in many stores.

I really like that they have a very good range of games for all groups, including children & families. Since I have kids in my life, I love that I can get them into really unique games, over the usual droll fare out there for children.

Best yet, is that when I am interested in a certain game, I have always found that one of the sales staff has actually *played* the game. They can describe the feel of the game, the pace, the ups and downs. They can steer me toward what they think I might like to try, based on what I have liked in the past. That is very helpful.

When I am buying a gift, I can tell the staff what types of games the recipient likes, or what sort of interest they have. The sales staff have always been able to steer me toward the best fit (or sometimes, away from something I thought would be a good fit, but I would have erred!)

I have not been to their game-playing sessions, but hear good things about them. They have a wide range of games that are played. The store feels very "accessible" and comfortable, and I would feel comfortable coming in as a "newbie" and seeking out some play. They do have areas to play.

The location is nice, and there is an ice cream store and a coffee shop in a stone's throw of Pegasus.

I also just adore the owner of this store, a very charming and playful woman. The staff there obviously have a bond with each other, and seem to work well together. It just... feels nice to be there!

Die-Hard has been around for few years, and had a few owners. It is one of the few places to play any type of magic cards in Rhode Island, and offers sanctioned Standard and Limited every Friday and wednesday night (respectively), as well as Legacy every Saturday.

What makes Die-Hard so great is it's resilience. No matter what the problem, the Rhode Island Magic scene has always been there to support its favorite store. It has been recently sold to one of Rhode Island's best Magic players, Dave Feinstien, and he is supporting Legacy even more than before by offering bigger tournaments.

Also, the people make Die-Hard Games great. The mood there is always light, regarless of what round of the top 8 it is, because PEOPLE GO THERE TO HAVE FUN. More than any other reason. I even went the other night, and while waiting for the 7th and 8th men for are draft to arrive, I played a game with a guy I had never met before, who let me use his decks, because I didn't bring my own. People just want to play Magic there, and they don't care with whom or what format. I have NEVER had a bad expeirience there, as there is ALWAYS someone to draft with (even the owner will step in to be the 8th man in a draft). Also, it's a great place to go to get feedback on a deck you are making (The owner Dave is a FANTASTIC player with great deck advice). And all-and-all it is THE place in small little Rhode Island to play.

This is a great store, very friendly and approachable staff. They carry RPGs, card games, miniature games, comics, Legos, they rent time on computers for WOW and other PC games, arcade games... a little of everything! They are willing to special order, and often have event days such as a Lego Build-off that drew quite a crowd. They support in-store gaming, and order books and supplements a GM might need.

Product selection: My God, it's like I died and went to Heaven. New releases, old releases, out of print, indie, mainstream ... and that's just the RPGs. They have enough miniatures to recreate Antietam down to the man, terrains, CCGs, regular card games, board games, magazines, books, dice, pens, mats, paints, brushes, discontinued lines, even candy and snacks in case you get hungry browsing. (And you will because there's just so much to look at.) I've even found old, out of print rpgs that would have cost me twice as much on Ebay.

Stock levels: They always have multiple copies of new releases so they won't run out. Older releases are usually one or two copies. The store is big enough to keep most stock on the floor, so you can see how much of a given product is left before you decide to buy, and they will order just about anything they don't have in store. No charge!

Events and community support: They support EN World Gameday three times a year--that's three day-long RPG conventions! Plus they run tournaments for CCGs like Magic and Legend of the Five Rings, mini games like Warhammer 40K and Heroclix, even Euro board games like Settlers of Catan. By the door, they have a long counter devoted solely to fliers promoting area cons, groups, etc. Of course, they also participate in Free RPG Day! If you look at the calendar on their website, they run some kind of event every day--Warmachine, Axis & Allies, Classic BattleTech, various board games, rpgs, you name it!

Play space: They have a large backroom with 8 tables, all available for use by customers. This is where they run their tournaments and open play sessions. Bathroom and drink machine (well stocked with Mountain Dew and Powerade) are there as well. Chairs are plentiful and the room is separated by doors so no one ever tells you to keep it down. As I said, snacks are also for sale in the main store. Space, food, drinks, bathrooms, games, and people--what more do you need?

Gamer outreach: Not only will these fine folks play in events at their store, they will visit message boards and help coordinate them as well! They also seem to know where everything is in their store, quite a feat considering how big the store is and just how much they have for sale. And they won't sit on a stool and point, either. They will leave the counter and lead a customer to the exact spot, helping him/her find the game they want. Then there's the quarterly auctions, where people bring in their old games and bid on someone else's games. What other store helps customers sell their unwanted stuff to other customers?

Other: I've been to many game stores over my life, and I have never found anything that comes close. It's not just the physical parts (big store, maddening amount of games, great event area, etc.), but the people who work there and own the store are friendly and helpful. They enjoy games and seem to "get" the gamer mentality, probably because they are one of us. Please, Goodman Games, recognize this fine store for all of their hard work and friendliness!

Dlair/San Antonio has a great selection of board games, RPGs, mini's, puzzles and numerous painting and modeling products. They also have a wide selection of comic books and a video rental service complete with anime, sci-fi and fantasy classics and favorites. They carry major gaming lines as well as lots of small lines and they are always willing to do special orders, hold items and even have a very reasonable lay away plan. They stock a wide variety of minis, historical and fantasy, Warmachine, and Warhammer. For in store gaming, they even have a soda machine and allow food to be brought in from outside including pizza delivery.

Dragon's Lair has a huge play area in the main store with at least six rooms off the main store area, one of which has two tables built for miniature gaming. The room is fully stocked with terrain for the mini's tables. They have an active community of gaming with scheduled play dates and volunteers running events including board gaming nights on Monday and Tuesdays, RPG nights, a 40k campaign, regular Dungeon Delves and Gaming Days for 4e, Shadowrun Missions, Pathfinder Society, etc.

In fact, their store hours are fantastically ridiculous being open until midnight on M, T, and F and 9 or 10 on other nights.

The owner and staff and events' coordinator are very knowledgeable about the products they stock and are happy to take time to help out non-gamers who accidentally wander into the store.

I hope that you select Dragon's Lair, San Antonio as America's Favorite Game Store.

The store is stocked with a wide variety of games: * CCG/TCGs of Magic: the Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokemon, World of Warcraft, Naruto, Dragonball, & Epic * RPGs from AD&D 4E, RIFTS, Robotech, World of Darkness, SCION, Shadowrun, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Mutants & Masterminds, Star Wars, HERO, and GURPS * Board games range from Risk to Cheeky Monkeys, and every genre, virtually every age, classics to currents in between, though mainstream titles are not their forte, they can make orders for what they don't have. * CMGs (Collectible Miniature Games) and Wargames: Warhammer fantasy/40K, War Machine, Star Wars Minis, Axis & Allies, Heroclix, Monsterpocalypse and D&D Minis. * Dice games such as LCR and Liar's Dice (as seen in Pirates of the Caribbean).

What they don't have they can check to see if they can order it. They carry mostly non-mainstream products, mostly regarding board games, but for everything else, they carry supplements and lines produced by the smaller companies.

They are fairly decent about stocking their shelves, and again, if they don't have what you are looking for, they are willing to take a special request and contact the customer once the product is in stock. They even offer mail order service through their company website, under the "Online Store" link.

With the current larger events area of the local game stores, they offer the chance for a number of events to be run simultaneously. They just participated in BOTH Free RPG Day & Worldwide D&D Game Day. Offer delve nights, Monday & Friday Night Magic, Wednesday booster drafts, standard & legacy events for Magic on Saturday & Sunday, like events for Yu-Gi-Oh! on the same days. They also host demo events for rpgs, and open miniature game night on Thursday nights. But don't take my word for it, check out their on-line events calendar, right on their website.

I would say that the store and its staff represent the epitome of gamers everywhere. If any of them don't know the answer, they can refer you to another staff member who is more knowledgeable in that field.

They also carry comic books, including obscure titles, and back issues. The staff is quite friendly, and knowledgeable to a point, but altogether, a very fine store. Given the history of RPGs in general, that there are ANY stores like this one in Syracuse is a miracle unto itself.

Historically Compleat has been very thorough in maintaining a broad selection of games and keeping up stock levels. Recently (I presume with the tenor of the times econonmically) they've fallen back on that.

I'm hopeful that improvements in the economy will help. Getting some free materials couldn't hurt.

Compleat keeps an area of reservable tables dedicated to gamers and modelers where they regularly host games, demonstrations, and tournaments as well as days for modelers (including game miniature painters) to come and build and demonstrate.

The atmosphere is inviting and friendly and they offer drinks and snacks for sale on the premises! They provide storage space for large terrain pieces and a selection of games that anyone can come in and hang out or play when the tables are not reserved.

The store maintains a schedule of game sessions and demos and a bulletin board for folks to post their interests looking for games or players.

Ty the owner is very friendly and appreciative of the gamers and modelers who patronize the store. Carl the long standing sales manager is a fount of information about just about everything in the store.

I'm very glad to have a store like Compleat to go to, I want them to continue to thrive.

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